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&nCarne*t teacher'* 

Work for School 

3Jmprobement 



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Pr&£ £sstfj> Written by Miss 
Margaret Blaine and Winner 
of Nance medal : : : : 



Issued by the Educational Campaign 
Committee of South Carolina 



1907 

The State Co., Printers 

Columbia, S. C. 






Recently Miss Mary T. Nance, Presi- 
dent of the South Carolina School Im- 
provement association, offered, through 
the D. B. Johnson chapter, a medal for 
the best practical essay on rural 
schools. This medal was won by Miss 
Margaret Blaine of Blackstock and is 
considered one of the best ever sub- 
mitted along that line. 



n. 0' 



When Elizabeth Miller decided after 
' graduation that she would accept a 
jv- small country school, her friends were 
shocked. They had all prophesied a 
brilliant future for her in the profes- 
sional world. They upbraided her for 
• burying her talent, but, without reply- 
^n ing, she simply got ready and was at 
her place of work two weeks before 
the opening of school. On her arrival 
' in Brownsville she went immediately 
to the school house. Her heart sank 
within her. Perhaps some who have 
no acquaintance with the conditions of 
most of the country schools a few years 
ago, and of many at the present time, 
will think I exaggerate in the follow- 
ing description; but if it errs on either 
side, it rather fails to give the full 
measure of poverty and ugliness. 

The school house was a little log 
cabin at the cross roads. The crevices 
between the logs were filled in with 
mortar made of red mud. This was not 
very durable and the wind whistled 
through the cracks. "Worse still the 
floor had been laid while the lumber 
was unseasoned, and there were cracks 
about half an inch between the planks. 
The desks were long benches without 
backs, except a few rather roughly 
made in imitation of patent desks. The 
walls were cut and marked in every 
conceivable way, and studded with 
nails. 

The "little school teacher," as she 
had already been dubbed, felt like sit- 
ting down in the midst of it all and 
crying. But that was not what she 
had come for, and her quick eye noted 
the chances for improvement, both in- 
side and out. The grounds, for in- 
stance, though badly kept were full of 
possibilities. Knowing that success in 
her undertaking would depend upon 
the interest which the patrons and 
trustees would take in the school, she 
determined to get them interested. She 
visited as many of the homes as she 
could, and everywhere won the hearts 
of parents and children by her attrac- 



tive manner. Her earnestness and evi- 
dent devotion to her work, and her love 
for children showed that she would do 
her part; and the parents, who had 
been accustomed to teachers who had 
taught because they had to do it, 
promised their hearty support. A meet- 
ing of the trustees was held in the 
school house and in a simple way Miss 
Miller told them what she would like 
to do. The trustees said that things 
had been good enough for the other 
teachers, but, if she wanted a little 
money they could give her some, be- 
cause they had not spent any on the 
school house since it was built, and 
now they had a nice little surplus. 

"Then why can't we have a new 
school house?" asked Miss Miller. The 
answer came quickly, "Why the chil- 
dren don't come to this one. Soon there 
will not be any school here at all." 
"That's going to be changed. But then 
let us make this room more comfort- 
able." 

Improving the Building. 

The first thing was to stop up the 
cracks in the floor and walls. Those 
in the walls were not such a hard prob- 
lem, for the upper logs were very nice- 
ly fitted together, and the crevices be- 
tween the lower ones were easily fill- 
ed in with mortar that would last. 
After covering the walls with a layer 
of newspapers, which the children 
brought from their homes, they cover- 
ed jt all with a pretty wall paper 
which they bought for two cents a 
yard, the total cost being $2. This 
work was all done by the teacher and 
pupils out of school hours, the calcula- 
tions having served as lessons in 
mathematics. There were four windows 
and two doors, and after leaving room 
for the blackboards, the space to be 
papered was not so large after all. One 
of the patrons who had a saw mill 
gave some planks to be used for the 
blackboards. Miss Miller nailed strips 
across the ends to keep them from 
warping, then placed about 12 layers 
of newspapers on this. Over this she 
4 



stretched tightly a thin cloth and last 
the lapileum cloth, which can be pur- 
chased quite cheaply. This makes a 
lasting and satisfactory board. 

The cracks in the floor were a more 
serious matter. The only thing to 
do was either to get some kind of a 
carpet or have the floor relaid. On 
consultation with the trustees, they 
agreed to take up the floor and relay 
it on the following Saturday. Now, 
at last, the room could be comfortably 
warmed by fire in the large fireplace 
at one end of the room. It was too 
warm at the beginning of school for 
fires, so the children gathered cedar 
branches and banked them in the fire- 
place. In a large jar which had lost 
its bottom, and which the children 
covered with tin foil they had saved 
from tobacco boxes, they planted beau- 
tiful grasses. This was placed on the 
hearth. Around the narrow mantel 
she tacked a lambrequin of white oil 
cloth. A small clock, the property of 
the teacher, was placed on the man- 
tel. She had also brought with her, 
for her own room, several of her 
favorite pictures. Should she keep 
them for her own pleasure, or hang 
them where they might inspire noble 
thoughts in the young minds she was 
to train? The struggle ended in the 
hanging of the "Heac* of the Christ 
Child" over the center of the mantel, 
and the "Angelus" opposite the door. 
For years she had been saving pictures 
from magazines, even advertisements, 
much to the amusement of her friends. 
Now these came in most opportunely. 
Enlisting the help of the larger chil- 
dren, she gathered more pictures, 
which, with good mountings and good 
home-made paste, were made suitable 
for decoration. It is well to tell you 
right here that this enterprising young 
lady had been saving the backs of cat- 
alogues and pamphlets. These were of 
soft gray or brown heavy paper, and 
made fine mounts when themselves 



mounted on a heavy cardboard. A 
border above the blackboard was made 
of pictures of celebrated men and 
women. In a small space between 
two windows, she tacked a piece of 
plain dark paper, which had been 
given as a sample. This looked very- 
neat when framed in with a molding 
which the boys made with their 
knives. Four oblique slits were made 
at different points for holding in the 
penny Perry pictures, which were suit- 
able for different lessons or special 
occasions. These could be easily 
changed. 

Interest Inside. 

Since the schoolhouse was built at 
the joining of the public roads, it was 
impossible for the children to resist 
the desire to keep a strict account of 
passersby. Miss Miller knew that it 
was of no use to scold them for this, 
and she had litle hope of getting their 
interest centered on their work when 
more exciting things could be seen 
outside. When she spoke to the trus- 
tees about it, they suggested that the 
lower window panes be stained, but 
Miss Miller, knowing that this would 
not look well, and that the children 
would immediately know the reason 
for the staining, told them she would 
rather have sash curtains. She bought 
some dainty white goods at 8 cents 
per yard and curtained the four win- 
dows. The girls helped to make the 
curtains, and the boys trimmed long 
rods which were used to hang them. 
The dainty curtains gave a homelike 
appearance to the room, and the chil- 
dren were very proud of the effect. 
Before they were hung, the whole 
school joined in a scouring brigade, 
and the floor, desks and windows fairly 
shone. Everything else looked so clean 
and inviting, they decided that the 
small table must not be neglected. 
Two yards of white oil cloth made a 
pretty covering for this, and cost only 
30 cents. Another yard covered the 

6 



water shelf, which was on the porch, 
and the children and teacher enjoyed 
the fresh towels and basin which were 
always there. 

Since the nails had been taken from 
the walls, provision had to be made 
for hats and bonnets. Miss Miller had 
a plank put up in the most obscure 
corner. Into this nails were driven, 
and it served as a very good substi- 
tute for a hat rack. A large box, 
placed on its side and fitted up with 
shelves, served as a good receptacle 
for overshoes. This was kept on the 
little porch. Each shelf was divided 
by small partitions marked with a 
child's name. 

Although the new library law had 
been in effect for some time, no effort 
had been made to secure a library for 
this school. In order to get the ten 
dollars required of the school, Miss 
Miller trained the children and gave a 
little entertainment, for which she 
charged a small admission fee. The 
schoolhouse was crowded, and all 
seemed to enjoy it. They had no trou- 
ble selling the ice cream, for which 
the ladies of the neighborhood had 
furnished the cream and eggs. They 
cleared twelve dollars. The handsome 
case of books was an ornament to the 
room. The children were proud of it, 
for they felt that they had done some- 
thing toward getting it. This, after 
all, was the true secret of Miss Miller's 
success — allowing the children to help. 
This aroused their interest, and through 
them the parents became interested. It 
was the delight of the children, when 
their parents visited the school, as the 
teacher urged them to do, to have 
some of their work on the bulletin 
board. This board had been put up 
to place the best work upon, in order 
to spur the children to greater effort. 
It was a yard and a half of green 
burlap, which cost 15 cents, and was 
worth its cost many times over. 

Before Miss Miller came to teach 
the school, the playground of the 



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L BRARY OF CONGRESS 

029 456 449 



school was main! 
The parents had i 
hie to clear away 
the building, so that the children mignt 
have a suitable playground. At first 
Miss Miller had the children bring 
tools to clear off the level place near 
the grounds, which was not thickly 
grown up. This made a very nice 
playground. But it was her wish to 
have the adjoining grove made more 
inviting for the children. It was a 
rather low, swampy place and required 
a little draining. At length she decid- 
ed to celebrate Arbor day by clearing 
off the school grounds, since it was 
not necessary to plant trees. Every- 
one in the neighborhood was invited. 
The men were asked to bring axes, 
rakes, etc., and some strong hands. 
The county superintendent of educa- 
tion and another prominent gentleman 
were invited to be present and address 
the people. The children sang some 
appropriate songs and had a few reci- 
tations. When the crowd left that 
afternoon marvelous improvements had 
been made. Some vines were planted 
around the old log cabin house to 
cover its ugliness. 

Things Have Changed. 

Miss Miller's prediction had been 
realized — things have changed. Not 
only the school building and the school 
grounds have changed, but the spirit 
of the pupils and the spirit of the com- 
munity have changed. The children 
are eager to attend school, to take 
part in the improvements that are be- 
ing made, and the parents are more 
interested than the children. They are 
all planning now some way to enlarge 
the library, and to buy a small organ 
for the school. From present appear- 
ances, it will soon be necessary to 
have a modern school building to ac- 
commodate all the pupils who wish to 
attend this progressive school taught 
by this progressive teacher. 

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